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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

WAFCA Winners

Surprisingly, you all care a lot about the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association Awards (the post was the most-read this week, according to my stats - yes, I do know what you're reading). So here are the winners!

BEST PICTURE: The Social Network

BEST DIRECTOR: David Fincher, The Social Network

BEST ACTOR: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Bale, The Fighter

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa Leo, The Fighter

BEST ENSEMBLE: The Town

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Christopher Nolan, Inception

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Toy Story 3

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Exit Through the Gift Shop (which is now on DVD. Rent it.)

BEST FOREIGN FILM: Biutiful

BEST ART DIRECTION: Inception

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Inception

BEST SCORE: Inception

So what does this say about the Oscar race? Well, there's a couple of interesting things to note here....

The Social Network has been dominating these early awards. Though its not helping the cause for other films, such as other presumed front-runner The King's Speech, the early dominator usually goes two ways: total domination throughout the season (Slumdog Millionaire in 2008) or a quick fall before the end of December (last year, Up in the Air won a majority of the early prizes, but went winless at the Oscars). Which will The Social Network face?

Colin Firth has finally claimed a prize to justify his front-runner status. Expect more to come.

In round one of front-runners Annette Bening vs. Natalie Portman for Best Actress, the winner is...Jennifer Lawrence. Her film is looking healthier than ever now.

Christian Bale is also on a roll, but will Oscar be able to ignore the hamfest that is Geoffrey Rush?

Still no wins for presumed front-runner in Supporting Actress Helena Bonham Carter. Her status is starting to look flimsy, especially compared to how much attention Melissa Leo and Jacki Weaver are gaining.

Its worth noting that the film with the most wins here is Inception, with big wins in the three technicals. This could be indicative of how the film performs at the Oscars: lots of technicals. We'll have to wait and see.

No wins for The Kids Are All Right or Black Swan. How will they play out through the season?